Separator



w. a. THOMPSON 1,939,151

SEPARATOR Filed July 12. 1929 Patented Dec. 12, 193.3

SEPARATOR Waynel.Y Thompson, Winchester, Mass., assignor to Spraco,Inc., Somerville, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application`July 12, 1929. Serial No. 377,668

4 Claims.

The present invention relates* to separators, and more particularly toair regulating set assemblies which are used in pneumatic apparatus,such as spray painting equipment, to regulate g. the main air linepressure and to clean the air by removing oil, water and dirt therefrom.

The air delivered from an air compressor into a main air line carriesfree liquid in the` form ofV water of condensation, oil from theinternal working parts of the compressor, vapors thereof and someatmospheric dust. Heretofore it has been proposed to remove this dirt,oil and water from the air by providing the pressure regulating valvebody with two air passages which terminate out of communication witheach other on one face of the body, and to connect these passages by adepending tube which drops, under the influence ofV gravity, free dirt,water and oil into a sump formed by the vbottom of a casing enclosing ofthe face of the body provided with .two air passages. From. the bottomof the tube the air passes upwardly through lter packing, such. ascotton waste, which substantially fills the space gl.' surrounding thetube between; it and the casing. This packing removes the oily andwatery vapor and thedirt therein. The air thus cleaned passes out of thepacking into the other passage in thebody which is in communication withthe presu sure regulating valve. The free dirt, oil and water collectsin the sump from which it may be blown from time to time through apet-cock. But the packing becomes saturated with the oil, water and dirtremoved by it from the air and Il therefore the dirty packing must beremoved and replaced with fresh waste to prevent the oil, water and dirtfrom being carried into the pressure reducing valve passage when thepacking has outlived its usefulness. Owing to the velocity with 0, whichthe air passes through the packing the air tends to drive the packingalong with it with the result that the packing becomes compacted in. asmall, hard compass in the space between the tube and casing. To removethe small, compressed packing saturated with oil, water and dirt fromthe casing is a hard, tedious job. A hook oi Asome kind is use d.r VTheoperative must insert the hook blindly into the casing and pull out thepacking piecemeal. rSo hard and tedious is the jobof removing theworn-out packing from the casing that it is often neglected'the pack`ing ceases to function, and oil, water and dirt are carried over intothe equipment supplied with compressed. air.

55 The principal object of the present invention the tube and connectedto the peripheral edge' (Cl. 18S- 41) is to provide novel and improvedmeans for mounting the lter packing in a separator such, for instance,as in an air regulatingr set assembly.

To the accomplishment of this object a feature of the present inventioncontemplates the 39 provision in a separator having a motive agentvpassage, stuffed loosely with lter packing, and having at least aportion of its wall engaged directly by the packing, of means forremoving the packing as a` unit from the passage.V It is preferred, toconstruct the means for removing the packing as a unit so that itconstitutes parts of the passages through which the motive agent flows.A Y

Accordingly another feature of the present invention contemplates theprovision in a separator having amotive agent passage, stuffed looselywithfilter packing, and having at least a portion of its wall engageddirectly by the packing, of means through which the motive agent flowsfor removing the packing as a` unit. from the passage. j Y Otherfeatures of the invention relate to certain devices, combinations andarrangements of parts, hereinafter described and then set forth` indetail in the appended claimsv which possess. advantages which will beapparent to those skilled in the art.

. The various features of the present invention will be` readilyunderstood from an inspection of the accompanying drawing illustratingthe best formof the invention at present known to the inventor, inwhich,y y Figurel is a view in elevation of an air regu-V lating setassembly;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view in sectional elevation on the line 2 2, Fig.1; Fig. 3 is a view in sectional plan on the line 3 3, Fig. 2; and fFig. 4 is a detail view in bottom plan of the recessed face of thepressure reducing valve body, therparts connected thereto being removedfor convenience. Y Y In the illustrated embodiment of the invention theair regulating set assembly is secured by screws 5 (Fig. 1) to avertical support. YThe compressed air from the compressor or storagetank` connected therewith is conducted by a horizontal main motive agentor air line (not shown) to a tortuous passager'? (Figs. 2, 3 and i)Yformedin the main body portion 8 of the air regulating set assembly. Thepassage 7 terminates on a flat face 9 (Figs. 2 and 4) constituting theface of a cylindrical recess 10 formed on the bottom of the body 8.Terminating upon the flat face 9 is a time it is liable to becomesaturated with the impassage 11. :sad

f catch the oil, water and dirt.

second passage 11 (Figs. 3 and 4) which communicates with a chamber 12formed in the body 8. The chamber 12 communicates with a pressurereducing valve 13 the construction of which forms no part of the presentinvention. The chamber 12 is also connected to a pipe 14 (Fig. 33) whichconducts the air to a gage 15 (Fig. 1) for indicating the main line airpressure. After the air passes through the pressure reducing valve 13 itenters a chamber 16 (Figs. 2 and 3) in the body 8 into which a pipe 17is threaded which' conducts the air under reduced pressure to the pointof use. The amount of reduced air pressure inthe pipe 17 is indicatedbya 'gage'lii (Fig. 1) in communication with the air in the pipe 17.

With this construction the main motive agent passages 7 and 11 bothterminate on the face 9 and are therefor out of communication with eachother within the body 8. n In order to connect the passages 7 and 11 adepending tube 19 (Fig. 2') provided with external threads at one end,is threaded into internal threads formed in the passage 7 adjacent theface 9. At its lower end the tube 9 is provided with a wing-nut 20 tofacilitate the connection of the tube 19 with the passage 7 and also itsdisconnection therefrom. The tube 19 discharges the air fromv the mainline into a cap 21 which is threaded upon the lower end ofra casing 22.Interposed between' the top edge of the cap 21 and the lower edge ofthecasing 22 is a gasket 23. The casing 22 is threaded at its upper endinto Vthe recess 10 in the body 8 and consequently surrounds thepassages '7 and 11 in the face 9 of the body 8 (Fig. 4).

Interposed between the face 9 and a locknut 24 threaded on the upperportion of the tube 19 is a disk washer 25. Interposed between thelocknut 24 and a second locknut 26 on the tube 19 is a circular straineror screen 27. I'he margin of the screen is bent as shown in Fig. 2 toform a skirt 28 loosely engaged with the internal wall of the casing 22.The peripheral edge ofv the screen 27 normally,engages the face 9 of thebody 8 on a circle surrounding the passages7 and 11.

With this construction the main line air from the passage 7 enters thetube 19, passes into the cap 21 and then flows upwardly in theauxilliary motive agent passage 29 formed bythe space between the tube19 and casing 22. A fter passing through the screen 27 the air `entersthe When the air enters the cap 21 from the tube 19 and then reversesits ow, free dirt, oil 'and water in the main line air is left behind inthe sump in the cap 21 from which the collected impurities may be blownthrough the petcock 30. y

)In order to remove from the air oily and 'watery vapors and dirttherein, which pass into the passage 29 with the upwardly flowing air,the passage 29 isstuied loosely with about 60 grams of white wastev 31.This waste rids the air of the remaining oil, water and dirt.

When the waste 31 has been in use for some prities withdrawn from theair to such an extent that the packing is no longer effective to Inorder to replace the worn-out packing with clean waste a valve on themain air line is closed, the pet-cock 30 is opened to relieve thepressure, the cap 21 is removed from the casing 22, the wing-nut 20 ismanipulated to unscrew the tube .19 from the passage 7, and the tube 19is withdrawn from the casing 22. As the screen 27 is rigidly secured tothe tube 19 by the locknuts 24 and 26 the screen 27 acts to push thedirty waste 31 as a unit from the casing 22 when the tube 19 iswithdrawn from the casing 22.

The tube 19 is then replaced in the casing by threading it into thepassage 7. Clean waste is then inserted into the passages 29 by stuflingit loosely into the space bounded by the tube 19, the casing 22 and thescreen 27. Finally the cap 21 is screwed into position on the casing 22and the valve on the main air line is opened to readrnit main line airto the air regulating set assembly.

With the construction described the duty of maintaining the cleanpacking in the passage 29 is very light.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that the screen 27performs three functions. It stops impurities which may work through thepacking 31, it prevents the compressed air from'- blowing strands fromthe waste 31 into the pressure reducing valve, and it pushes the packingas a unit out of the casing 22. While the filter packing is cottonwaste, preferably, becauseof its cheapness and universal availability,it must be understood that any filter medium maybe employed whichis'capable of being stuffed loosely into the passage 29 and thencompacted by the compressed air to ll the passage.

It will be clear also to those skilled in this art, with the generalobjects of the present invention in view, that changes may be made inthede- Y tails of structure, the described and illustrated 11 embodimentthereof being intended as an exploitationV of its underlying essentials,the features whereof are definitely stated in their true scope in theclaims herewith. f

What is claimed as new, is:-

1. In an air regulating set assembly the combination with a valve andcommunicating main andA auxiliary motive agent passages leading thereto,said auxiliary motive agent passage having a depending tube connected tothe main mo- 120 tive agent passage, a'casing therefor, and filterpacking stuffed loosely into the space between the tube and the casingthe entire lower face of said packing being unsupported, of meansconnected to the tube and -located adjacent the upper end 1125 of thecasing abovethe filter packing for removing all the packing from thecasing as a unit upon the disconnection of the tube from the main motiveagent passage and its withdrawal from the casing. k

2. In a separator, the combination with a body having a face, motiveagent passages terminating at saidfface out of communication with eachother within the body, of means for connecting the motiveVV agentpassages comprising a tube detachablyy connected to one of saidpassages, a cylindrical Ycasing enclosing the tube connected to the bodyin communication with the other one of saidpassages, a screen connectedto theY tube and arranged to engage the internal wall of the casingadjacent the face of the' body, and lter packing substantially fillingthe space bounded by the tube, screen and casing unxed therein, theentire lower face of said packing being unsupported whereby when thetube is detached from 145 the passage to which it is normally connectedand removed from the casing the screen pushes the packing out'of thecasing.

3. In a separator, the combination with a body having aface, motiveagent passages terminat- 15 ing at said face out of communication witheach other, of means for connecting the motive agent passages comprisinga tube threaded into one of said passages, a cylindrical casingenclosing the tube connected to the body in communication with the otherone of said passages, a screen, connected to the tube, having itsperipheral edge engaged with the face of the body and provided with amarginal skirt engaged with the internal wall of the casing, and filterpacking substantially lling the space bounded by the tube,v screen andcasing whereby when the tube is threaded out of the passage to which itis normally connected and removed from the casing the screen pushes thepacking out of the casing.

4. In an air regulating set assembly vthe combination with a valve andcommunicating main and auxiliary motive agent passages leading -beingunsupported and a screen interposed between the waste and the Valve tostop impurities which work through the 'packing and to prevent Y strandsof the Waste from reaching the valve, of

means connecting the tube and the screen for causing the screen to pushthe waste out of the casing as a unit when the tube is disconnected fromthe main motive agent passage and withdrawn from the casing.

WAYNE B. THOMPSON.

